I have the tools, but not the patience (or, dare I say it?) time left to cultivate true bonsai. Maybe none of us has. However I must concede that Jade Plant gives us the option of faking it because of the gnarled and easily manipulated trunks on even the youngest plants. Still, painting a bonsai takes less time and discipline. What’s more, any damage resulting from my less-than-green thumb is already done.

Let’s face it, most gardening is a war against chaos. Maybe that’s why I sometimes have fun creating virtual files as the support for my botanical art. For this one I created colorful compartments for Azaleas (on the left) which I enhanced with a touch of turquoise, ferns at the bottom with a ‘button’ of variegated Euonymus, Parlor Palm as the centerpiece and some inner leaves of Euonymus at the top. If only it would all line up so obediently in my garden.

Like most of what I post here, it will pop up matted and framed in my Etsy shop soon.

Gardening doesn’t come to a halt just because snow covers the ground. I have houseplants that stay indoors year round but not many. Most of them summer on my deck. I gave my parlor palm a little pruning several weeks ago with a selfish motive in mind. Here is the first result. I have several more fronds in process, but the plant continues to flourish so it’s win-win during the dormant season.

P.S. The little guy at the bottom of this piece is a snippet from my Andromeda tree which is still lying on its side having been felled by the blizzard of ’13. A master gardener from the University of Rhode Island has advised that I wait until spring and hope it springs back. Fingers crossed.